Circuit-controller.



W. C. REED.

CIRCUIT CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION HLED sEPT.11.1914.

Patented Oct. 17, 1916.

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UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

WALTER C. REED, OF DALTON, MASSACHUSETTS, VASSIGNOR T0 THE TELELECTRIC COMPANY, OF PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CIRCUIT-CONTROLLER.

Patented Oct. 17, 1916.

Original application led August 23, 1910, Serial No. 578,587. Divided and this application filed September To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER C. REED, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dalton, in the county of Berkshire and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Circuit-Controllers, of which the following is a specication.

This invention relates to devices for opening and closing electric circuits, and is 1ntended to provide a simple, compact and durable form of circuit controller by means of which a large number of electric circuits may be opened or closed by a single movement of the controller.

rlfhe features of construction and arrangement in which my invention resides are hereinafter described in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view showing one form of my circuit controllingdevice and means for operating it; Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 2 2 in Fig. 1, showing also a portion of an electric circuit controlled by the device; and Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal section through the controller illustrated in Fig. 1.

The form of circuit controller illustrated in the drawing comprises a series of metallic disks or plates 2 and insulating disks 3 mounted side by side in alternation on a rod or shaft et, the disks 2 being insulated from said rod by means of a non-conducting tube 5 surrounding the rod and from one another by means of the disks 3. Each disk 2 is provided at its exposed edge with an insulating portion by boring a hole through the collective disks 2 and 3 in such position as to cut slightly through the peripheries of the disks 2 and inserting therein an insulating bar 6, which preferably projects slightly beyond the outer edges ot all of said disks 2. The collective disks 2 and 3 are clamped together between heads 7 and 8 carried by the rod 4,'and said rod is mounted at its ends on suitable fixed bearings 9 and 10 carried by a base plate 11.

Each disk 2 is adapted and intended to control a corresponding electric circuit, such a circuit being partially represented in Fig. 2 b y a pair of circuit wires 12-12 extending tangentially with respect to one of said disks and located in a circumferential groove provided by making the disks 3 of somewhat Serial No. 861,318.

greater diameter than the disks 2. The wires 12-12 may be included in any desired circuit requiring to be opened and closed and are to be regarded as typical of similar wires forming parts of the other circuits controlled by the several disks 2, the grooves between the disks 3 serving as lateral guides for the corresponding wires at their points of contact with said disks 2. As thus constructed, whenever the circuit controller occupies such a position that the insulating bar G is out of contact with the adjacent wires 12 all the circuits in which said wires are included will be closed through the corresponding disks 2, while said circuits will be open whenever said bar G is located directly beneath the adjacent wires, in which case said wires will be held out of contact with the corresponding disks.

inasmuch as the various circuits may be opened and closed by a slight rotational movement of the collective disks 2, theV form of controller above described is capable of operating very quickly and is therefore especially suitable for use in electrically operated piano players of the general character set forth in my co-pending application Serial No. 578,587, tiled August 23, 1910, of which the present application is a division, the circuit controller being employed in said apparatus `for the purpose of opening and closing simultaneously a number of branch circuits by means of which the resistance of corresponding playing magnet circuits is appropriately varied to produce expression effects in the compositions played. hen used in such an apparatus the controller is provided with means for operating it electrically, such means consisting for example of an electromagnet 13 having projecting poles 14, and an armature 15 located between said poles and mounted to osoillate on the-bearing 10. Said armature is connected to the circuit controller by means of a pin 16 entering the armature at one end and the head 8 at its otherv end, and a spring 17 holds the connected armature and controller at one limit of their movement when the magnet 13 is denergized. The parts may be so arranged that the circuit controller will occupy either its opencircuit position or its closed-circuit position when the magnet 13 is denergized, the eftect of closing the circuit through said magnet being to partially rotate the controller and thereby move the insulating bar 6 into or out of contact with the adjacent wires l2, as the case may be.

While the form of circuit controller hereinbefoe specilically described is the form which is preferably used in the playing apparatus above referred to, it is to be understood that its construction may be modified in various Ways without departing from my invention. For example, the metallic contact pieces 2 need not necessarily have the form of disks, nor is it necessary that the movement of the controller be a rotational movement, or that the controller be operated electrically. rlfhe parts 2 may also be provided with peripheral insulating portions in various ways, although the insertion `of an insulating rod or bar into a hole drilled through the collective disks is a simple and inexpensive .vay of doing this, and is preferred for that reason and also because a very durable construction is thus provided. lt will also be evident that the circuit Wires or other contact lingers may occupy any desired circumferential position with respect to the open-circuit position of the i sulating portions of the corresponding metallic plates or disks, so that my controller may be readily accommodated to various arrangements of electric circuits as regards the relative instants of opening and closing the same.

l claim l. A circuit controller comprising a series of metallic plates occupying parallel planes and mounted on a common support extending at right angles thereto, said plates being movable in unison in their own planes and each plate being provided at its edge with an insulating` portion, insulating members interleaved With said plates and projecting beyond the edges thereof, and a series of circuit Wires located respectively between adjacent insulating` members and held against the edges of the corresponding plates.

2. A circuit controller comprising a series of interleaved metallic plates and insulating plates mounted on a common support and movable in unison in their ovvn planes, each metallic plate being provided at its edge with an insulating portion, a series of independent circuit Wires held against the edges of thev latter plates respectively, and means for preventing lateral movement of said Wires at their points of contact With the respective metallic plates.A

3. A circuit controller comprising a series of metallic plates and a series of insulating plates arranged in alternation and mounted on a common. support, with the insulating plates extending bevond the metallic plates to provide grooves at the edges of the latter, each metallic plate being provided at its edge With an insulating portion, circuit wires located in said lgrooves respectively and held against the edges of the corresponding metallic plates, and means for oscillating said plates.

il circuit controller comprising a series of interleaved metallic plates and insulating plates mounted on a common support and movable in unison in their own planes, with the insulating plates extending beyond the metallic plates to provide grooves at the edges of the latter, an insulating bar passing through said plates and exposed at the edges of the metallic plates, and circuit wires located in said grooves respectively and held against the edges of the corresponding metallic plates.

5. A circuit controller comprising a series of metallic disks and a series of insulating disks arranged in alternation and mounted on a common shaft, the insulating disks being` of greater diameter than the metallic disks to provide grooves at the edges of the latter and each metallic disk being provided at its edge with an insulating portion, and circuit Wires corresponding to the several disks and located in said grooves.

(3. A circuit controller comprising a series of metallic disks and a series of insulating disks arranged in alternation and mounted on a common shaft, the insulating disks being of greater diameter than the metallic disks to provide grooves at the edges of the latter, an insulating bar passing through said series of disks and exposed at the edge of each metallic disk, a pair of circuit Wires located in each groove and held. in contact with the corresponding metallic disk, and means for oscillating said 'shaft to move the insulating bar into and out of contact with the adjacent, circuit wires.

ln testimony whereof, l have hereunto subscribed my name this ninth day of September, 1914.

WALTER C. REED.

Witnesses E. D. CHADWIGK, EvnRnTT E. KENT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for 'five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents. Washington, D. C. 

